## Facts

- New York Public Health Law § 2164 required immunization for school attendance, with medical and (then-available) religious exemptions.
- N.M., an Orthodox Jewish mother, sought to enroll her minor children (E.K. and L.K.) at Hebrew Academy of Long Beach (HALB), a private Orthodox Jewish day school, without vaccinations.
- N.M. asserted vaccination would violate her sincere religious beliefs, citing bodily integrity, purity, and reliance on divine providence.
- HALB declined to admit the children without vaccinations, concluding N.M.’s asserted basis did not satisfy the statutory religious-exemption standard.
- N.M. sued HALB officials and state officials responsible for education and public health, alleging constitutional violations and seeking injunctive relief.
- N.M. moved for a preliminary injunction compelling HALB to admit the children unvaccinated and barring state enforcement of § 2164 against her family during the case.

## Issues

1. Whether plaintiffs showed a genuine and sincere religious belief prohibiting vaccination, sufficient to invoke Free Exercise protections and support a statutory religious exemption.
2. Whether plaintiffs satisfied the requirements for a preliminary injunction, including irreparable harm, likelihood of success on the merits (or serious questions plus hardship balance), and consistency with the public interest.

## Decision

- The court denied the motion for a preliminary injunction in its entirety.
- The court found plaintiffs did not show genuine and sincere religious beliefs that prohibit vaccination.
- Because plaintiffs failed that threshold showing, they did not demonstrate likelihood of success on Free Exercise or related constitutional claims.
- The court concluded the balance of hardships and the public interest in preventing communicable disease transmission in schools weighed against injunctive relief.

## Legal Principles

- A court may not assess the truth of religious beliefs but may examine whether asserted beliefs are sincerely held and religious in nature rather than medical, philosophical, or personal.
- To obtain a preliminary injunction, a movant must show irreparable harm and either (a) likelihood of success on the merits or (b) serious questions on the merits plus a balance of hardships tipping decidedly in the movant’s favor; public-interest considerations also apply.
- Neutral, generally applicable vaccination requirements for school attendance are constitutionally permissible public-health measures; a claimant’s failure to establish a sincere religious basis for noncompliance defeats Free Exercise-based injunctive relief.

## Conclusion

The court refused to order a private religious school and state officials to permit unvaccinated school attendance because plaintiffs did not carry their burden to show that their opposition to vaccination was grounded in a genuine and sincere religious prohibition, and the public-health interest in disease prevention favored denial of emergency relief.


N.M. v. Hebrew Acad. Long Beach, 155 F. Supp. 3d 247 (E.D.N.Y. 2016)